View source for Carbonit Mine

The German '''Carbonit Mines''' were made by the Carbonit Company of Hamburg.  This article is based, initially, on a British report on German mines from July, 1917.{{UKGermanNavyPart4Sec3|pp. 26-7, Plates 38, 39}}

{|border=1
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|colspan=2|'''Carbonit Mine'''
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|Weight||836 lbs.
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|Casing||0.2 in. welded steel
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|Detonator||2 Tetryl detonators in parallel
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|Primer||2.2 lbs. of lightly compressed T.N.T.
|-
|Charge||220 lbs. of cast T.N.T.
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|Buoyancy||240 lbs.
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|Height<br>on rails||over 6 feet high
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|Diameter||&ndash;
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|Sinker weight||660 lbs. (330 more can be added)
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|Mooring wire||330 feet of 1.25-in wire, breaking strain 4.5 tons
|}

Firing was done by four volt batteries at a current of 0.1 ampere or more.

It would sink to the bottom with its sinker and rise about 15-20 minutes later when a soluble plug dissolved.

The sinker was an iron plate with rollers to engage a mine rail on the hosting vessel.

==Trials in H.M.S. ''Vernon''==
In a tideway trial, a two knot tide was found to cause the mine to sink just 6 inches with 37 feet of mooring wire out &mdash; a better depth-keeping than British mines.  This mine had 40 pounds more buoyancy than British weapons.  The horns proved very good at triggering on {{UK-Vindictive}}, as the mine rolled as the ship passed alongside.  The mine passed a six day endurance test easily, and two withstood a counter-mining test of 220 pounds of T.N.T. exploded 45 yards from them in 15 feet of water.

==Fish Type==
These mines were unusual in that their wire spool was in the sinker, not in the mine body.  The mine was placed into a cradle on the sinker just before deploying.{{UKGermanNavyPart4Sec3|pp. 27-8, Plate 40}}

{|border=1
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|colspan=2|'''Carbonit "Fish Type" Mine'''
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|Weight||lbs.
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|Casing||0.2 in. welded steel?
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|Triggers||four horns
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|Detonator||
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|Primer||
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|Charge||200 kgs. T.N.T.
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|Buoyancy||
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|Height||
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|Diameter||&ndash;
|-
|Sinker weight||
|-
|Mooring wire||
|}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{UKGermanNavyPart4Sec3}}
{{refend}}

{{CatMine|DE}}